Black Lives Matter protesters who caused chaos at Heathrow Airport claim they were following in the footsteps of US civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

The airport stunt caused delays at the height of the summer holidays on August 5 last year, with traffic gridlocked on the M4 spur road.

Joshua Virasami, 26, Ewa Jasiewicz, 38, Mark Weaver, 35, and Alison Playford, 37, are accused of unfurling a banner in the middle of the road which said 'this is a crisis'.

The other five defendants - Sita Balani, 29, Liam Barrington-Bush, 32, Aditi Jaganathan, 26, Naomi Mabita, 23, and Aadam Muuse, 24 - are said to have lay on the ground chained to each other.

A court has heard how a protest by the Black Lives Matter group caused chaos last summer

Alison Playford and Mark Weaver are also charged over the incident in August last year

Their trial at Willesden Magistrates' Court came to a close today, with District Judge Stephen Day due to give his decision later.

In his closing speech, defence lawyer Darrell Ennis-Gayle highlighted the case of US civil rights activist Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white person in 1955 sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

He said the Heathrow campaigners was they were exercising their right to protest.

Mr Ennis-Gayle, defending Jasiewicz, Muuse, and Barrington-Bush, said: 'This led to the arrest of Rosa Parks. Ultimately it changed the law.

He told the court statistics showed black people were three times more likely to be arrested, and 44 times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Ennis-Gayle added: 'Protest is often by its nature an inconvenience. They made a decision to voice their opinions in a tried and tested way.

'Who knows what changes the group's actions could possibly bring about. This was a lawful obstruction with some minor inconvenience.'

Raj Chada, representing Balani, Mabita, and Virasami, said: 'A delay of 15 to 30 minutes is not unusual on the M4.

'It was to be of a short duration. It was designed to achieve media attention.'

He rubbished suggestions by the prosecution they could have used different ways to spread their message, such as handing out pamphlets.

Mr Chada said: 'I can see the headlines on CNN or the national media now - ten activists hand out leaflets at the Heathrow Express.

'These defendants sought to exercise their right to free speech in a practical way.'

Joshua Virasami and Liam Barrington-Bush are among a group of Black Lives Matter protesters on trial for obstructing the highway during a demonstration near Heathrow

Eight of the nine defendants outside court tonight. The trial was adjourned today

Freya Colvin, defending Weaver, Playford, and Jaganathan, said: 'The location for the protest, in their minds, was a reasonable one. But also a symbolic one due to the issues highlighted, given that Heathrow Airport is a main site for the deportation of black people. Their aim was about raising awareness.'

Nana Owusuh, prosecuting, said: 'It was calculated, staged, and effectively carried out in an artery road used by commuters to the airport.

'The time - rush hour time, in the summer months where the airports are to be busy, is fairly common knowledge. This was a deliberate and permanent obstruction.

'They could have chosen Hyde Park, anywhere else. It was because they wanted a degree of permanency.

'You may take the view that every minute matters catching a flight. Every minute matters, especially nowadays when checks are very stringent.'

Balani, Barrington-Bush, Jaganathan, Jasiewicz, Muuse, Playford,and Virasami, all from London, Weaver, of Beverley, east Yorkshire and Mabita, of Manchester, all deny wilful obstruction of a highway.